The present invention relates to an IC card connector apparatus, and particularly to an IC card connector apparatus which has a pair of electrical sockets respectively mounted on upper and lower surfaces of a circuit board for connecting the IC card connector apparatus to the circuit board.
Notebook computers are becoming increasingly popular due to their unique advantages. Nowadays almost all notebook computers are provided with an IC card connectors for connecting an IC card to a circuit board. Some mechanisms are adapted to connect the IC connector to the circuit board, such as the disclosures of Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 82210513, 84206175, and 84206176.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional IC card connector 10 includes an insulative housing 12 having a front face 14 and a rear face 16 opposite the front face 14, a space 18 adjacent to the rear surface 16 for receiving an IC card (not shown) therein, and two arrays of contacts 20 retained in the housing 12. Each contact 20 forms a mating end 22 and a mounting end 24 opposite the mating end 22. Two arrays of the mating ends 22 of the contacts 20 extend beyond the rear face 16 and into the space 18 for engaging with an IC card, and the mounting ends 24 extend beyond the front face 14 of the housing 12. Each mounting end 24 forms a curved portion which provides the mounting end 24 with resiliency. A circuit board 26 is inserted into a space between the two arrays of mounting ends 24 of the contacts 20. The mounting ends 24 abuts against upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board 26 and electrically contact circuits formed thereon. However, if the IC card connector 10 cannot be securely retained at a predetermined position, signal transmission through the IC card connector 10 will be adversely affected.
FIG. 2 shows an IC card connector 28 which contacts a circuit board 30 by means of a flexible printed circuit 32. One end of the flexible printed circuit 32 engages with contacts 34 of the IC card connector 28, and the other end engages with a connector 36 mounted on the circuit board 30. Since the flexible printed circuit is expensive, such a device cannot be competitively priced.